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The Art of Being a Child. Childhood in Tartu 1890-1940

Song Festival MuseumExhibition
Time of occurrence: 17.05.2024-26.10.2024

In the birthplace of the Estonian national nursery school and long-time nursery school building, now the Song Celebration Museum, a new exhibition will be opened on 17 May 2024. It will give you a glimpse of the Tartu of bygone days by looking at the everyday life of the town’s children from the end of the 19th century until the eve of the Second World War.

The exhibition focuses on early childhood, the life of preschoolers and how they grew up and explores the different aspects of childhood – families’ living conditions, relationships with parents, upbringing principles and of course, the everyday life of young children: games and toys, clothing, leisure time activities, etc. The university town of Tartu was the centre of Estonian nationalism, voluntary association movement and education at the time and this also had an influence on the conditions in which the town’s children grew up in, especially the promotion of child welfare, the establishment of the first nursery schools and orphanages, and the availability of medical care and maternal counselling. 

The exhibition offers a wonderful opportunity for both families and people interested in the history of Tartu to take a look at Tartu a century ago and discover the joys and challenges of childhood in the past, to reflect on how attitudes towards children have changed over time and what the background to this change has been. The theme of the exhibition is inspired by the artistic concept of the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024 – “The Arts of Survival”. After all, being both a child and a parent is a form of art now and was a form of art a hundred years ago.  

Exhibition team
Curator: Kristiina Tael-Annuk (Song Celebration Museum / Tartu City History Museums)
Designer: Marje Eelma (Tuumik Stuudio)
Estonian editor: Ivi Tammaru
Translators: Merli Kirsimäe and Martin Jaigma 
Production: Salibar, Talis Taim (talistaimdesign)

Temporary exhibition prices:
Full ticket 6 €
Discount ticket 4 €
Free for children under the age of 8

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